HISTORY

Monastic life as lived at the Abbey Val Notre-Dame de Saint-Jean-de-Matha since March 2009, has its origins in the Benedictine Rule. This small Rule for beginners, as its author calls it, was written in the 6th century by Benoît de Nursiethe father of the monks of the West. 

For a long time applied in the monasteries of Europe alongside other monastic rules, it became the only one in force in all monasteries from the 9th century onwards. It was in Cluny, a great Benedictine monastery in France in the 10th century, that it reached its apogee. In 1098, 21 monks from the Benedictine monastery of Molesmes, wanting to live the Rule more closely and in greater solitude, withdrew to the wilderness of Cîteaux. Hence the birth of theCistercian Orderwith Saints Robert, Albéric and Stephen, who will be joined by the most popular saint Bernard of Clairvaux. 

In the seventeenth century, due to the vagaries of history, the Cistercian Order moved away from full observance of the Rule of St. Benedict. Then another great monastic figure appeared: Armand Jean de Rancéthe Abbot stormed as it is called, the reformer of the monastery of La Trappe in France. The so-called Trappists came out of this reform. 

In 1881, facing threats of expulsion from an anti-religious government, the Trappist monks of the monastery of Bellefontainealso in France, make a foundation in Canada, in Oka. Known as La Trappe d'Oka, this monastery reached its peak in the 1950s with a total of 177 monks and became famous for its famous cheese: Oka cheese. 

In 2002, the community numbering barely thirty monks, the premises had become too large and the environment rather noisy, so the monks opted for a transfer. The Lanaudière region was chosen and the monks settled at Val Notre-Dame at the foot of the Montagne-Coupée. It was in this enchanting setting and in a luminous monastery with sober and avant-garde lines that they continued to search for God under the guidance of the Rule of Saint Benedict.

If you would like to know more about our Order, you can visit the official website of the OCSO.